WASHINGTON _ Former Rep. Pete Sessions is one step closer to reviving his political career in his boyhood home of Central Texas, just two years after voters ousted the Republican from office in the Dallas-based district that he represented for some two decades.
Sessions won a GOP runoff against Waco businesswoman Renee Swann. He now advances to the general election battle to replace retiring Rep. Bill Flores.
The contest was one of the most intriguing matchups Tuesday at the congressional level, pitting a once-powerful committee chairman who moved districts to run for the seat against a political neophyte backed by Flores, Sessions' former congressional colleague.
It was among more than a half-dozen primary runoffs in Texas that could have significant implications for November.
Many political observers centered their focus on North Texas, where former Carrollton-Farmers Branch school trustee Candace Valenzuela defeated retired Air Force Col. Kim Olson in a Democratic runoff in a seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Kenny Marchant.
Elsewhere in Texas, President Donald Trump kept a close watch on two GOP runoffs: One in the Panhandle, where he backed former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, who won, and the other in South Texas, where he endorsed Navy veteran Tony Gonzales, who was trailing.
But the skirmish between Sessions and Swann in Texas' 17th Congressional District offered several unusual story lines.
The former congressman was defeated in 2018 by now-Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat who helped his party take back the House for the first time in years. He teased the prospect of a rematch, but instead moved to an open seat, ruffling some GOP feathers in the process.
Sessions has touted his potential to have instant congressional seniority _ rare for a freshman lawmaker.
But the Republican also had to explain his peripheral role in Trump's Ukraine saga, among other foreign forays. While he has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing, Sessions has been linked directly to two indicted associates of Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney.
Swann, meanwhile, pitched herself as a political outsider with deep ties to the district. She ended up having to deal with the coronavirus pandemic head on, leaving the campaign trail in the race's waning days after testing positive for COVID-19.
Sessions will be favored against the district's Democratic runoff victor, Rick Kennedy.
